[Dave McCracken]

Thursday was my day off this week. I naturally went to PGC for some practice on the Wobble trap.

Others were there too, and one guy had a 20 gauge O/U Remington. He shot from low gun and hit most of the clays during a couple rounds.

His was a "Sporting " model and was ported. It also came with choke tubes, had OK wood and some disco engraving on the receiver. The receiver seems to be plated.

I looked it over, then with his permission handled it. He informed me that it was cast off, and so it was.

Cast off means the butt is to the right of the mid line of the barrels. It helps get the eye of a right handed shooter in the correct place behind the gun. Cast on is the opposite condition and works for the sinistrally inclined.

Also, this had the toe of the butt skewed out a little further than the heel, better fitting the pocket of the shoulder.

A few mounts showed me the stock was a bit short for me and I saw all the rib when the gun came up. I expected it to shoot high for me and so it did. Still I hit most of the clays.

The lockup was tight,the trigger usable though a hair heavy. It broke cleanly.

Balance was on the hinge with what seemed to be 28" barrels and kick was un-noticed. Weight was less than 7 lbs by my estimate but it was not superlight.

He told me what he paid but I've forgotten the amount. It seemed like a good value for the money.

Low end doubles oft have regulation probs. This one seemed to have both barrels pointed to the same place but YMMV.

All in all, the R/R is a usable, economical O/U that will serve a shooter well for hunting the uplands and casual clays, if this is a typical example.

Questions, comments?

[45auto]

All in all, if I were to buy a cheaper Russian O/U, I'd probably prefer to buy a Remington since they can back it up with service and their name. For a hunting gun that really doesn't get shot much, probably not a bad idea if you want an O/U, although I'd still prefer to buy a used better quality one IMHO.

[Red Label]

I love my Remington rifles and my 870s but I prefer not to buy their O/U. I'll stick to my American Ruger thank you. I just REALLY have a hard time buying something foreign even if its an American co.

[Onmilo]

Since Remington is handling warranty issues on the guns, when something does go wrong they tend to come back to the owners even better fitted and slicked internally than when they were new.
That statement isn't meant to be a broad indication that something will go wrong, I just mean that if you have the right tools the guns are easy to diassemble and the parts are fairly easy to slick up because they are cut from good quality steel and hardened properly.
Can't say the same for some of the low end Italian, Turkish, and especially Spanish made guns.

The Russians are quite good at regulating barrels too,
The too short stock comment is interesting since the Russians tend to run stock length long and they are meant to be fitted by the owner should the owner wish to do so once he receives his gun.

[Dave McCracken]

Thanks.

45 auto, I see this one's niche as a field gun that can be used for some casual clay shooting, but not heavy campaigning. Not all of our shotguns need last for generations of heavy use.

BTW, the owner has an 12 gauge 870 he's shot for a few decades. So his bases are covered and this is fortheheckuvit.

Red Label, s'funny. There's quite a few firearms here at Casa McC. All of them are US made. One Blackhawk in 41 mag, one 10-22.

Omnilo, I fnd most stocks a bit short. Best guess, this was about 14" LOP.

[Ohen Cepel]

I just find them chunky. I think they will run for years and are a good value, just don't like the way they feel and handle myself.

I think the CZ's are a better buy for the money even though they are a bit more.

[ArmedBear]

http://www.remington.com/images/products/firearms/spr/lgsil_spr310.jpg

http://www.remington.com/images/products/firearms/spr/lgsil_spr310sporting.jpg

The Field model (top) is FUGLY. I suppose that's what happens when you take people who have learned their trade by making Kalashnikovs and have them build an O/U shotgun.:p

The Sporting model is significantly less fugly. But you can tell it's not built by the Turks. IMO they should have Izhmash build the actions and barrels, and send them to Turkey, where they could be finished, engraved tastefully, and blessed with nice stocks. That could be a world-class gun, if done right. I can't get into that nasty foreend on the field model, though the Sporting version is a tad better. OTOH I do have a pre-95 BT-99 with a competition foreend, which isn't the sleekest thing, either...:)

Anyway, I've never heard a complaint about the things, from people who own them. My club owns a few Spartans for rentals and teaching; they've served quite well.

[Dave McCracken]

Ohen, I haven't handled or shot a CZ yet, you may be right.

These do look like they were made by folks more used to tractors. Kinda industrial.

AB, sometimes sturdy beats pretty.